Initial advice for a first time private seller - in particular shipping.

Jerry_Cornelius

elsmandino said:

Perfect - I am going to do just that (going to have a hunt round, tonight  ).

One other quick question, if that is OK - 

I have various bits of PC equipment, in my loft, that I can no longer test to ensure that is working (though, as far as I am aware, it was working when it was last used).

e.g. I have some sticks of DDR2 RAM but no motherboard that supports that anymore.

I also have some very old floppy disk drives (5.25") which will not connect to anything I current have.

How would you go about selling something like those - i.e. is it enough for me to say, in the description, that I simply cannot vouch for their working?

I'll probably disagree a little bit with Soolin here!

I have built my own PC's over the years, and often have such stuff lying around from old builds I sell at a later date. Providing its been well stored, solid state things like RAM, assuming it was pulled from a working system, I would list as normal, but state its untested/you are unable to test it, but was working at time of removal, this reassures buyers its not just some random stuff you've acquired. As its RAM make sure you take a clear photo of the side with the sticker on detailing its specific part number and clock speeds (most sticks have a sticker on them) and handle it carefully.

The floppy drives, being more of a mechanical item, could have deteriorated over the years, so may be slightly higher chance it no longer works, but again, if you are confident its been stored well, list it with a similar disclaimer as the RAM.

KxMx

For the I Pod somewhere like Cex or Music Magpie may offer a sum for it. 
Probably not as much as you'd get at auction, but the big plus is not having to deal with any potential buyer problems after the sale. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Jerry_Cornelius said:

elsmandino said:

Perfect - I am going to do just that (going to have a hunt round, tonight  ).

One other quick question, if that is OK - 

I have various bits of PC equipment, in my loft, that I can no longer test to ensure that is working (though, as far as I am aware, it was working when it was last used).

e.g. I have some sticks of DDR2 RAM but no motherboard that supports that anymore.

I also have some very old floppy disk drives (5.25") which will not connect to anything I current have.

How would you go about selling something like those - i.e. is it enough for me to say, in the description, that I simply cannot vouch for their working?

I'll probably disagree a little bit with Soolin here!

I have built my own PC's over the years, and often have such stuff lying around from old builds I sell at a later date. Providing its been well stored, solid state things like RAM, assuming it was pulled from a working system, I would list as normal, but state its untested/you are unable to test it, but was working at time of removal, this reassures buyers its not just some random stuff you've acquired. As its RAM make sure you take a clear photo of the side with the sticker on detailing its specific part number and clock speeds (most sticks have a sticker on them) and handle it carefully.

The floppy drives, being more of a mechanical item, could have deteriorated over the years, so may be slightly higher chance it no longer works, but again, if you are confident its been stored well, list it with a similar disclaimer as the RAM.

Trouble is, if you've listed it in the normal category and it doesn't actually work, a buyer can open a claim against you and eBay will find in their favour if it's not listed as spares/repair in the item specifics.  A disclaimer in the description is not guaranteed to be read by a buyer and is realistically no protection in a SNAD case.

martindow

It strikes me that maybe there is a need for a sticky with advice for Ebay buyers and sellers similar to the one on the house buying, selling and renting board for people renting or letting.

A lot of the advice and information on this thread could be combined with other content to create a useful resource for Ebay users.

Jerry_Cornelius

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Jerry_Cornelius said:

elsmandino said:

Perfect - I am going to do just that (going to have a hunt round, tonight  ).

One other quick question, if that is OK - 

I have various bits of PC equipment, in my loft, that I can no longer test to ensure that is working (though, as far as I am aware, it was working when it was last used).

e.g. I have some sticks of DDR2 RAM but no motherboard that supports that anymore.

I also have some very old floppy disk drives (5.25") which will not connect to anything I current have.

How would you go about selling something like those - i.e. is it enough for me to say, in the description, that I simply cannot vouch for their working?

I'll probably disagree a little bit with Soolin here!

I have built my own PC's over the years, and often have such stuff lying around from old builds I sell at a later date. Providing its been well stored, solid state things like RAM, assuming it was pulled from a working system, I would list as normal, but state its untested/you are unable to test it, but was working at time of removal, this reassures buyers its not just some random stuff you've acquired. As its RAM make sure you take a clear photo of the side with the sticker on detailing its specific part number and clock speeds (most sticks have a sticker on them) and handle it carefully.

The floppy drives, being more of a mechanical item, could have deteriorated over the years, so may be slightly higher chance it no longer works, but again, if you are confident its been stored well, list it with a similar disclaimer as the RAM.

Trouble is, if you've listed it in the normal category and it doesn't actually work, a buyer can open a claim against you and eBay will find in their favour if it's not listed as spares/repair in the item specifics.  A disclaimer in the description is not guaranteed to be read by a buyer and is realistically no protection in a SNAD case.

Hmm OK, may have to consider that in the future.

soolin

Jerry_Cornelius said:

elsmandino said:

Perfect - I am going to do just that (going to have a hunt round, tonight  ).

One other quick question, if that is OK - 

I have various bits of PC equipment, in my loft, that I can no longer test to ensure that is working (though, as far as I am aware, it was working when it was last used).

e.g. I have some sticks of DDR2 RAM but no motherboard that supports that anymore.

I also have some very old floppy disk drives (5.25") which will not connect to anything I current have.

How would you go about selling something like those - i.e. is it enough for me to say, in the description, that I simply cannot vouch for their working?

I'll probably disagree a little bit with Soolin here!

I have built my own PC's over the years, and often have such stuff lying around from old builds I sell at a later date. Providing its been well stored, solid state things like RAM, assuming it was pulled from a working system, I would list as normal, but state its untested/you are unable to test it, but was working at time of removal, this reassures buyers its not just some random stuff you've acquired. As its RAM make sure you take a clear photo of the side with the sticker on detailing its specific part number and clock speeds (most sticks have a sticker on them) and handle it carefully.

The floppy drives, being more of a mechanical item, could have deteriorated over the years, so may be slightly higher chance it no longer works, but again, if you are confident its been stored well, list it with a similar disclaimer as the RAM.

If you list as just used in the main category then you are guaranteeing it works and there are no issues and as spoonie_turtle says if it turns out not be perfect then buyer returns it at your cost and you refund the full original payment including postage in full. I suppose it all depends on how happy you are that the item works exactly as it would do if new.